US of AA: How the Twelve Steps Hijacked the Science of Alcoholism

In the aftermath of Prohibition, America's top scientists joined forces with AA members and put their clout behind a campaign to convince the nation that alcoholism is a disease. They had no proof, but they hoped to find it once research money came pouring in. The campaign spanned decades, and from it grew a multimillion-dollar treatment industry and a new government agency devoted to alcoholism.

But scientists' research showed that problem drinking is not a singular disease but a complex ...